Henderson vs. Freire will be the headliner of the card at the SAP
Center in San Jose, Calif. Freire was removed from a previously
scheduled main event bout against Derek
Campos at Bellator 181 on July 14. As a result, Campos will
square off with Brandon
Girtz in the new Bellator 181 headliner. The bout were
announced by the California-based organization over the
weekend.

Meanwhile, Nelson will lock horns with Javy Ayala in
a heavyweight duel at Bellator 183. Ayala had been booked against
Valentin
Moldavsky at Bellator 181.

Henderson last appeared at Bellator 165 on Nov. 19, when he dropped
a split decision to Michael
Chandler in a lightweight title affair. “Smooth” is now 1-2
with Bellator following a lengthy tenure in the UFC. Freire has won
three of his last four contests, including a brutal second-round
knockout of former Strikeforce champion Josh Thomson
in his most recent outing at Bellator 172.

Nelson, 41, signed with Bellator after posting a 9-10 mark in the
UFC since beginning his tenure with the Las Vegas-based promotion
in 2009. “Big Country” has won just two of his last seven bouts and
last appeared at UFC on Fox 24, where he dropped a decision to
Alexander
Volkov. Ayala enters the matchup on a two-fight winning streak
that includes a surprising 16-second knockout of Sergei
Kharitonov at Bellator 163.